As a more general point - even in fantasy/sci-fi not just anything goes - while there will be a degree of subjectiveness to it still needs to have some kind of framework of what is and isn't plausible within it or it tends to lose most audiences. Some of that will be based on our preconceived concepts.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime)
- Thread starter LiE
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As a more general point - even in fantasy/sci-fi not just anything goes - while there will be a degree of subjectiveness to it still needs to have some kind of framework of what is and isn't plausible within it or it tends to lose most audiences. Some of that will be based on our preconceived concepts.
Then you're all right and I am wrong. This series is going to fail because they've introduced a black hobbit. The the curtain has dropped and the illusion has been broken because they've introduced something which was mentioned in the book. You can accept mythical races of creatures and magic but a brown/black cast member is just one step too far.
Personally, I'm still looking forward to it and if you aren't because they've done what they've done, so be it. I hope you can find something else to watch and enjoy.
Personally, I'm still looking forward to it and if you aren't because they've done what they've done, so be it. I hope you can find something else to watch and enjoy.
This I can agree with. He wouldn't have been my first choice but that's because in my mind he is firmly a Saturday evening sketch guy from the 90s!I don't mind a black hobbit, zero issue with it, however Lenny Henry doesn't strike me with confidence
Same, no idea what he's done in recent years, it's just a name that gives me a confused face and has me saying 'what?!?'
Soldato
Lenny henry has done some stage stuff so he cant be that bad, and no I dont mean panto 
At least its a hobbit hes playing, seeing as they never take life seriously, are playful and naughty generally it doesnt need the same "hard core" acting as if your playing an Aragorn type character.
Woke is really starting to annoy me now. NO I don't mean the actual wokeness I mean the constantman babies middle aged white men complaining about it. And I say that as a middle aged white man.
Some people always have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future I guess.
Wonder if we will see any white orcs
At least its a hobbit hes playing, seeing as they never take life seriously, are playful and naughty generally it doesnt need the same "hard core" acting as if your playing an Aragorn type character.
Woke is really starting to annoy me now. NO I don't mean the actual wokeness I mean the constant
Some people always have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future I guess.
Wonder if we will see any white orcs
I can echo this and I also find myself getting more annoyed at folk crying woke constantly than when something genuinely is 'woke'. Also saying this a middle aged white man.
Yes there is a lot of 'woke' culture about right now but it's become such a lazy way to complain, it's a word to throw out with minimal thought behind it and get other frothing folk echo chambering the same fury.
There is space for genuine complaint about woke writing and media, would just like to see some more thought behind the complaints rather than crying 'woke' at anything someone barely doesn't like the female/black/LGBTQ/midget casting of.
Soldato
My personal view is that if the character is fictitious and the actor embodies the persona of the character, then race is a non issue. I don't see James Bond as having to be white, he just needs to be a well spoken (English/Scottish) attractive person who is handy in a fight or car chase. There are slight double standards at play, for example, could a white person play Shaft with any credibility? What if the actor had been adopted at birth to a black family and grew up in Harlem, is that OK? The uncommon nature of that type of casting may cause a suspension of disbelief issue for viewers, which would hurt the marketability of the product, in the same way that people lose their minds when they meet a white person with a Jamaican or Chinese accent.
As for a race of fantasy people, surely in the context of modern society it is highly improbable that they would all be white? Tolkien grew up in a majority white society which probably shapes our perception of what a Hobbit should look like, and he characterised Orcs as being a darked skinned foreign evil. But lets be honest, making a huge series where every character with a dark complection is evil and most with light complections are good is not really a progressive message, nor is it actually important. This isn't a case of making Anne Boleyn black, it's also about giving jobs to talented (OK that is a separate debate re. Lenny) actors where skin colour is not a defining characteristic of a fantasy character.
As for a race of fantasy people, surely in the context of modern society it is highly improbable that they would all be white? Tolkien grew up in a majority white society which probably shapes our perception of what a Hobbit should look like, and he characterised Orcs as being a darked skinned foreign evil. But lets be honest, making a huge series where every character with a dark complection is evil and most with light complections are good is not really a progressive message, nor is it actually important. This isn't a case of making Anne Boleyn black, it's also about giving jobs to talented (OK that is a separate debate re. Lenny) actors where skin colour is not a defining characteristic of a fantasy character.
Let's be honest here. By the sounds of it the show it isn't going to be true to Tolkien work?
And I'm not talking about the colour of people's skin.
He's wants amazon to have its game of thrones.
It's going to have a bunch of horny dwarfs and hobbits trying to shag the elves.
And I'm not talking about the colour of people's skin.
He's wants amazon to have its game of thrones.
It's going to have a bunch of horny dwarfs and hobbits trying to shag the elves.
The vanity fair article doesn't fill me with confidence..
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/amazon-the-rings-of-power-series-first-look
Caporegime
Why are they all so clean?
Soldato
The more I read about this, the more it seems like the people that made it only care about telling a story with the LotR IP and not actually respecting Tolkiens writing or history. Galadriel is a stroppy and emotional (3000 year old or so at this point) teenager?
Modern Hollywood.The more I read about this, the more it seems like the people that made it only care about telling a story with the LotR IP and not actually respecting Tolkiens writing or history. Galadriel is a stroppy and emotional (3000 year old or so at this point) teenager?
They haven't got the talent anymore.
Find a popular IP. Hack and slash it to make it into a platform for their political views then attack anyone who speaks out.
Soldato
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This will go the same way as Wheel of time, a true shame and complete waste.
Wait until you hear that Elijah Wood and Sean Astin aren't actually hobbits or English in real life
.Genuinely baffling how everyone here is crying over a black hobbit and not the fact that the released images look like a bunch of cosplayers at a LOTR themes wedding.
Caporegime
Lol I actually wanna see how they shrink him down to hobbit size. Don't crap your bed about the skintone too much.
Have you seen The Great? Awful lot of black Russians in the imperial court, still one of the best series I've seen for a while.
It's just very hard to break moulds on things that are very traditional and from 100 odd years ago. Fiction or not.
Have you seen The Great? Awful lot of black Russians in the imperial court, still one of the best series I've seen for a while.
It's just very hard to break moulds on things that are very traditional and from 100 odd years ago. Fiction or not.